Tuiasosopo is the man behind the Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax, creating a fictitious person named Lennay Kekua, who "died" last September.

Tuiasosopo seemed to hedge when asked by Dr. Phil about whether he was gay.

"We have a young man that fell deeply, romantically in love," McGraw said. "I ask him, straight up, was this a romantic relationship and he says 'yes.'" "I said, are you then, therefore, gay, and he said when you put it that way, yes. And then he caught himself and said I am confused."

McGraw offered some insight into Tuiasosopo's behavior.

"Ronaiah had a number of life experiences that damaged this young man in some very serious ways," McGraw said after "hours" of conversation.

McGraw said "absolutely, unequivocally, no" when asked whether he thought Te'o was in on the hoax.